The first episode of WWE Raw since Vince McMahon’s resignation resulted in a four-week high for the program on the USA Network.
The show from Madison Square Garden averaged 1,901,000 viewers and approximately 648,000 (0.50) in the 18-49 demographic, courtesy of Brandon Thurston from Wrestlenomics and Showbuzz Daily.
WWE Raw last night on USA Network (8-11pm), the first Raw since the exit of Vince McMahon:
1,901,000 viewers
P18-49 rating: 0.50📊 https://t.co/1SscdBCpr8 pic.twitter.com/dsWSxBJJVT
— Brandon Thurston (@BrandonThurston) July 26, 2022
Both figures were the show’s highest since the June 27th episode that featured the return of John Cena to the program.
The overall viewership increase from last week was eight percent while the key demo improved by seven percent.
Raw was the top show among cable originals on Monday and reclaimed its position on the chart after last week’s MLB Home Run Derby on ESPN.
The key numbers saw modest increases from the week prior with adults 18-34 up by seven percent and males 18-49 seeing a ten percent leap. Adults 50+ increased from 0.90 to 0.93 this week.
The first hour of the show, which included a rare appearance by Roman Reigns on Raw averaged 2,019,000 viewers and 0.52 in the 18-49 demo – which was the strongest opening hour of Raw since the night after WrestleMania this past April.
In the second hour, the show dropped to 1,974,000 viewers but the demo stayed consistent at 0.52.
There was a notable drop in the third hour to 1,711,000 viewers and 0.45.
Throughout the three-hour program, overall viewers dropped by 15 percent, 18-49 fell by 13 percent – and the largest decline was among females 18-49, which fell 21 percent from hour one to hour three.
In Canada, the show was the top sports-related program for the night averaging approximately 258,000 viewers and 119,000 viewers in the 25-54 demographic on Sportsnet 360, which doubled its demo figure from the week prior. The previous four episodes of Raw in Canada had averaged 178,000 viewers, so it was a sizable increase.
While the show advertised a celebration for Rey Mysterio, an appearance by Roman Reigns, and was taking place from Madison Square Garden – it was the curiosity factor that would appear to be the biggest factor after Vince McMahon’s removal from power this past Friday and the installation of Paul Levesque overseeing creative on Monday morning. McMahon’s name was never mentioned on the program, although there were veiled references to him by Roman Reigns and Paul Heyman in the first segment of the show.
QUICK HITS
** Miz & Mrs. had its two-episode season finale on Monday immediately after WWE Raw. The first 30-minute episode averaged 540,000 and 0.16 in the 18-49 demo with the second episode averaging 389,000 and 0.12 in the demo – combined it averaged out to 464,500 and 0.14.
** Friday Night SmackDown from this past week averaged 2,256,000 viewers and approximately 809,000 (0.62) in the 18-49 demographic on Fox.
It was SmackDown’s second-highest demo figure of the year behind the January 21st edition of the show while overall viewership was at a five-week high since June 17th, which was the night Vince McMahon appeared on the show days after the first Wall Street Journal report.
SmackDown experienced a 26 percent increase in adults 18-34 and a 35 percent jump among adults 35-49.
The show averaged 124,500 viewers and 55,100 in the 25-54 demo on Sportsnet 360 in Canada and was fifth among sports programs for the evening.
** AEW Rampage averaged 425,000 viewers and 222,000 (0.17) in the 18-49 demo as it finished sixth among cable originals.
Overall viewership dropped by two percent, but the demo increased by 21 percent and was their best performance among the 18-49 demo since April 22nd.
Rampage also saw a rise in adults 18-34 by 33 percent for the go-home show before Death Before Dishonor featuring Jay Lethal against Christopher Daniels in the main event.
** The WWE on A&E block from Sunday included the latest edition of Biography focusing on Nikki & Brie Bella.
The two-hour doc averaged 425,000 viewers and 0.12 in the 18-49 demographic, which would the lowest figures for any of the Biography specials over the two seasons while finishing #30 among cable originals. It was down from the previous week’s edition on Bill Goldberg that averaged 594,000 and 0.16.
WWE Rivals focusing on Steve Austin and The Rock averaged 423,000 viewers and 0.15 in 18-49, which is the highest of three episodes in the series, thus far, and finished #20 among cable originals.
The number was up from 390,000 and 0.11 for last week’s episode on The Undertaker and Kane.
Smack Talk averaged 212,000 viewers and 0.07 in 18-49.
